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On the afternoon of the 15th, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung held an emergency executive meeting in the city hall's medium conference room to discuss measures for stabilizing public livelihood following the passage of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol. Photo by Gwangju City

Mayor Kang Gi-jung of Gwangju City presided over an emergency executive meeting on the 15th following the National Assembly's passage of the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol, urging the swift implementation of measures to stabilize people’s livelihoods. The meeting aimed to assess the impact of the impeachment approval on citizens' lives and the local economy and to prepare follow-up stabilization measures.

Mayor Kang first expressed gratitude, saying, “I thank the National Assembly for preventing martial law and passing the impeachment motion, and I also thank all the citizens who bravely took to the cold asphalt with cheering sticks in the freezing winter.”

He emphasized the stabilization of people’s livelihoods as the top priority. Mayor Kang stated, “Impeachment is a path to restoring constitutional order, but the road to reestablishing order may be chaotic. During such turbulent times, it is the livelihoods of the people that suffer the most. Please join me in considering how to support the citizens who endured hardships during the protests, small business owners struggling due to sluggish domestic demand, and businesspeople burdened by export downturns and sharp currency fluctuations.”

He then ordered the rapid implementation of measures to revitalize the livelihood economy, which lost the usual December year-end boom, including expanding discounts on the Win-Win Card, special discounts to promote public delivery apps, consumption stimulation events, and early execution of next year’s budget. He also instructed accelerating the preparation of strategies to secure supplementary budgets and preemptively coordinating with central government ministries within the year to finalize parts related to next year’s government supplementary budget, as well as implementing year-end and New Year safety inspection measures for citizen safety.

Additionally, efforts will be made to resolve difficulties faced by small business owners and SMEs, restore the local economy’s tangible conditions, proceed with local government-led festivals and events as originally planned, strictly manage prices, implement welfare projects for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, disabled, and low-income households, and promote volunteer work and donations for marginalized groups during the year-end and New Year period.

Mayor Kang said, “The dead of May 1980 saved the living of December 2024,” adding, “K-democracy, admired worldwide, has shown both its vulnerabilities and resilience through this incident. Our democracy, faced with crisis, will boldly move toward a ‘stronger democracy.’”

He particularly noted, “A constitutional amendment reflecting the lessons left by the December 3 martial law will be pursued, and the new preamble of the constitution will include the spirit of May 18. The weight of the name ‘Gwangju’ has become even heavier. Since it has become the ‘name of light’ people turn to first in dark times, we must take this responsibility even more seriously.”

Mayor Kang also stressed, “The administration must think and act in a manner worthy of the name ‘Gwangju.’ It should reflect on whether the administration properly embodies Gwangju’s values, listens to citizens’ voices, and works for their happiness, and whether the administration has moved citizens emotionally and approached them closely.”

Gwangju City had earlier formed and operated a local livelihood stabilization task force on the 9th and held an emergency livelihood economy meeting on the 12th attended by economic organizations and related agencies, focusing administrative efforts on caring for and stabilizing people’s livelihoods.